Articles for Mediators
APFM: The Dream, Progress to Date, and New Goals
By Virginia Colin | APFM was created with almost impossible dreams. How much progress have we made? What great things might we do in the future? The President of APFM reports that we have built a strong foundation.
The Scope and Potential of Professional Family Mediation
By Larry Gaughan | It is time to recreate the excitement of the 1980’s and move family mediation toward recognition as a fully established, separate, credentialed profession.
It’s High Time to Draft All Divorce Agreements In 21st Century English
By Larry Gaughan | An impassioned plea for writing divorce agreements in language the parties can easily understand, instead of using antiquated form-books.
Toward a Unified Profession of Family Mediation
By Steve Erickson | Professional family mediators need both process skills and substantive knowledge about child development, parenting, family law, budgeting, and more.
The Creative Solution
By Chip Rose | How a mediation proceeds and how it ends depend on how it begins. Beginning with macro questions the clients can say yes to gets them off to a good start.
Using Appreciative Inquiry in Parent/Teen Mediation
By Judy Larkins | When parents and teens are in conflict, a mediator, using the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach, can help them restore their positive relationship and create shared plans.
A Letter from your 2018 APFM President
By Virginia Colin | APFM is becoming the go-to resource for family mediators in need of training, mentoring, and support, and the go-to resource for families in need of professional family mediation services. Join us!
The Scope of Family Mediation
By Georgia Daniels | From childhood through marriage, maybe divorce, elder care decisions, and probate, mediation can help families prevent or resolve conflicts peacefully and constructively.
QUESTIONS
By Michael Lang | As a mediator, what questions are best to ask? How do you know when it is the right time to ask one? Reflective practice …
Mindfulness for Mediators: Towards Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls and Doing Better Mediations
By Stuart Reed | Being present, authentic, patient, and committed to integrity are aims of mindfulness. These same qualities can help mediators avoid ethical pitfalls and better serve mediation participants.
Standards — Self-Determination
By Steve Erickson | We need a way to assess skills and provide credentials for family mediators who are client-centered, non-coercive, and respectful of self-determination. Other approaches masquerading as mediation are confusing the public.
New Tax Law Significantly Impacts Couples Going Through Divorce
By Michael Wayland | What aspects of new tax law affect divorce settlements? Changes related to filing status, standard deductions, child tax credit, alimony, mortgage interest, and home equity loans are discussed.
You may have interest in prior editions of APFM’s newsletter, The Professional Family Mediator.